We all use electricity. For too long we have ignored issues about where electricity comes from, and believed that electricity is best made by others, by experts, by “the powers that be.” Now we are entering a new era in which we can take control of our future, including the important choice of how our electricity is generated.

I am proud to be part of the growing solar power industry. Every day, companies like Third Sun Solar are busy building new clean solar power plants, including solar for homes, businesses, universities, government buildings, military facilities, hospitals, and libraries.

Solar technology is simple, reliable and efficient. There are no moving parts. The panels are solid state, modular, and scalable. More panels make more power. To make a certain amount of electricity, you might need 10 solar panels in the desert southwest and 12 in Ohio, or 15 in upstate New York. The state with the most solar is California; second is New Jersey. Germany is a shining example of a modern industrial nation that is well on its way to a clean renewable power grid. The point is, solar can work anywhere the sun shines. There is NO TECHNICAL BARRIER to a solar powered U.S.A.

Solar panels also make sense financially. Costs of solar panels have dropped by 80% since 2007. With long term financing, a solar system can cost less than conventional retail power, with free fuel. There is NO ECONOMIC BARRIER to a solar powered U.S.A.

My company and many of my friends in the solar industry are hard at work turning on system after system for folks that are choosing clean energy. But there are many entrenched interests that benefit from perpetuating the status quo—generating our electricity by burning coal, oil, and natural gas, and pouring pollution up into our delicate atmosphere. Aging, inefficient and highly-polluting power plants are being kept online simply to maximize profit, and for no other good reason. This has to stop. There is a very REAL POLITICAL BARRIER to a solar powered U.S.A.

At Third Sun Solar, our company mission is to accelerate the shift to clean energy. We need to move forward, installing clean solar and wind power as quickly as we can, while also retiring the dirtiest, oldest power plants as quickly as we can.

We salute and support Environment Ohio in calling on Senator Sherrod Brown to support the EPA’s new Carbon Rule.